God likes to play mean jokes on me....

So, I get back to Virginia today and prepare for 15 credit hours that are going to kick my butt for the next 5 months. Today instead of unpacking all my clothes and rearranging my room like I need to do, I went for a biking/running extravaganza. 

Riding down Indian River is one of the dumbest and yet most fun things you could ever do. People don't understand that it does take a lot of effort and skill to ride down a busy street on a tire an inch wide, while people talking on cell phones dodge you the second before they hit you, road construction has stripped the first layer or asphalt off and the bumpiness of the ride is shaking your liver loose.

I have found that God has always taken pleasure in my bike rides. No matter where I am at, no matter what direction I am riding, or matter which pair of stretchy pants I wear that day.... the wind is forever blowing against me. No matter where I set out from, the wind is forever blowing straight against me, making the ride difficult to say the least. 

It never seems to fail every time I ride out of my little apartment complex. BUT.... though the wind is forever blowing against me..... though my legs begin tiring out way sooner then they should be..... The ride is still enjoyable when the pavement finally becomes smooth.... and the cars stop zooming within a few inches of the handlebars.... BUT THE WIND..... NEVER STOPS!!!!

Sometimes I peddle along and say. "You have got to be joking, God!" No matter where my plan takes me in life.... it seems I hit opposition every way I turn. There is never a break.... there is never any down time.... It seems the Almighty Weatherman Himself has got it out for me. 

That said.... remember... growth does not come without its price. Life is difficult, but it is for a good reason. At the end of the ride I get to look up into the sky and say, "HA! I'll be back tomorrow."

Get up. The wind blows hard enough to encourage growth, not to stop you in your tracks.

You are loved,
brian mccluskey

Thunderstorms are beautiful. The lightning and thunder are nothing short of a visual sight of God's idea for excitement, beauty, and necessity all bundled into one puffy cloud.

Did you know lightning hits from the ground up? At least that's what my 7th or 8th grade science teacher told me. It doesn't make sense to me why it would work like that. I will probably never know or care to know, but when lightning strikes I don't care about where it came from. It is there, it came to me and I find myself surrounded by a storm. Why do I find that beautiful?

Inside of that chaos, inside of the darkness I find peace. When the rain trickles off the gutters, the sky is lit by broken strands of light, when loud thunder becomes silence again and again.... that is when the beauty comes.

Because there is one thing that I have always found true after a thunderstorm. After the rain passes.... the lightning ends... and the thunder stops.... the sky appears again... it always does. There is nothing more beautiful then the sky after you have driven or stood in the storm.

I have seen my fair share of storms. They usually find me when I am driving home or back to college. I never hesitate to stop and look at the sky. I have pulled off in many random locations on interstates to just stop and look at the sky. They continue to get more and more beautiful after every storm I go through. Remember that the storms will come..... and sometimes you will find them.... but there is always a sky more beautiful then you can hope for on the other side of the chaos and darkness. Stand strong... enjoy your storms... because your roots and foundation can't grow without being tested and pushed.

you are loved,
--brian mccluskey